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Recent Posts
- ‘The oil we eat’. Following the food chain back to iraq
- Vanishing open spaces: population growth and sprawl in America
- Admiral Rickover 1957: Energy Resources & Our Future
- The Green New Deal is not a solution for the real problem: Overshoot
- A transition from fossil fuels to renewables could take a century – if it ever happens
- Electrifying freight trains in the U.S. is a bad idea
- Why Nuclear Power can’t replace fossil fuels
- Energy, Water, & Climate Change are interdependent
- Why fusion power is Forever Away
- Climate Change dominates news coverage at expense of other existential planetary boundaries
- Excerpt from “The Geopolitics of Resource Wars”
- Homes & Buildings
- Book Review “The Outlawed Ocean” by Ian Urbina
- Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future
- Motherboards: too complicated to make after oil
Category Archives: Infrastructure & Collapse
Ecological cost of new roads in Africa
[ What follows are excerpts from the January 8 2014 issue of Newscientist’s “Africa’s road-building frenzy will transform continent” by Andy Coghlan. ] China is funding most of the new roads to get the minerals they’ve mined, and transport food … Continue reading
Posted in Roads, Transportation Infrastructure
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Climate change impacts on transportation 2008 U.S. Senate hearing
Senate 110-1199. June 24, 2008. Climate change impacts on the transportation sector. U.S. Senate Hearing. Excerpts from this 135 page document follow. DANIEL K. INOUYE, U.S. SENATOR FROM HAWAII The transportation sector is a major indicator of the overall economic … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Transportation, Transportation Infrastructure, U.S. Congress Transportation
Tagged climate change, energy, transportation
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It’s official – the U.S. is energy independent! House Hearing 2013
House 113-88. October 29, 2013. North American Energy Infrastructure act. House of Representatives. [Excerpts from the 195 page transcript of this hearing] ED WHITFIELD, KENTUCKY. Over the last several months, this committee has received compelling testimony detailing how the United … Continue reading
Posted in Oil & Gas, U.S. Congress Energy Independence
Tagged energy independence, pipelines
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Corrosion eats $552 billion of infrastructure a year (6% of GDP)
Preface. United States infrastructure was built when the EROI of oil was very high and minerals and metals were cheap due to high ore concentrations. This study was done in 2002, since then, things have gotten much worse (see ASCE … Continue reading
Posted in Bridges, Oil & Gas, Rail, Transportation Infrastructure
Tagged corrosion, infrastructure, mining, nuclear waste, pipelines, transportation, utilities
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Electromagnetic pulse threat to infrastructure: U.S. House hearings 2012 & 2014
Related articles: Russian hackers suspected in attack that blacked out parts of Ukraine How the weapon works (pdf): CRASHOVERRIDE Analyzing the Threat to Electric Grid Operations The EMP Commission estimates a nationwide blackout lasting one year could kill up to … Continue reading
Posted in Congressional Record U.S., Electric Grid & EMP Electromagnetic Pulse, Infrastructure & Collapse, Interdependencies, U.S. Congress Energy Dependence, U.S. Congress Infrastructure, War
Tagged electromagnetic pulse, EMP, end of civilizatoni, nuclear war
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Oil Infrastructure – pipelines, refineries, terminals
Sider, A. and Friedman, N. November 2, 2016. More than half of U.S. Pipelines are at least 46 years old. Building new systems has become harder amid opposition from landowners and environmental groups. Wall Street Journal. More than 60% of … Continue reading
Posted in Oil, Oil & Gas, Pipeline
Tagged crude oil, miles of pipeline, pipeline, refined product, service station
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Why You Should Love Trains
Why You Should Love Trains by Alice Friedemann November 13, 2014 Trains rock! Trains are over 4 times more fuel efficient than trucks. On average it takes just 1 gallon to move a ton 473 miles, using just 2% of … Continue reading
Posted in Rail, Railroads, Transportation Infrastructure
Tagged efficiency, energy, infrastructure, railroad, transportation
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Almost half of Rail Freight is Energy, increasingly Crude Oil
Source: American Association of Railroads. 46% of all tonnage hauled by freight trains is Energy: In 2014, crude oil will likely be 650,000 carloads — 2% of all carloads, 2.2% of tonnage. In addition 2.6% of rail tonnage was refined … Continue reading